Alex Ovechkin wrote:“I am very sorry that Brian was injured and I hope he is able to return to his team soon. NHL hockey is a physical game. We all play hard every time we are on the ice and have battles each shift in every game we play so we can do our jobs and win. As players we must accept responsibility for our actions and I am no different but I did not intend to injure Brian and that is why I was disappointed with the NHL’s decision yesterday. Every time I have the honor to play for my team, I will continue to do what I have done since I was taught to play. I will play hard, play with passion and play with respect for my teammates, opponents and fans. I look forward to returning to my team and doing everything I can to be the best player I can be.”

Caps are 6-2 without Ovechkin this season. It'll be 8-2 after they beat Florida and Carolina this week.

Even though I hate to see him suspended, it really was the only thing that could happen. If he didn't get suspended then everyone would be on him like they are about Matt Cooke in Pittsburgh (not that it's a fair comparison, but these morons don't care).

It'll be interesting to see how Pittsburgh does without Malkin (out with an injury). For my money, he's their best player; not Crosby.

He may get all the accolades, but I think Crosby is closer to Backstrom than he is to Ovechkin.

Sorry, got off topic myself, I just hate Pittsburgh so much...

See ya in Tampa Bay Ovie!

“If you grow up in metro Washington, you grow up a diehard Redskins fan. But if you hate your parents, you grow up a Cowboys fan.”-Jim Lachey

Bob 0119 wrote:Thomas Vokoun was on his A-game last night, and still got lit up for 5 goals. He made some spectacular saves, but 5 goals on 20 shots is enough to get anybody pulled.

By the third period, the Caps were just toying with Florida. They were still taking shots, but they were trying to get fancy and just keep pressure up in the attack zone.

So lets see, San Jose lost big to Dallas, that win last night puts Washington 16 points ahead in the Eastern Conference (over Pittsburgh) and seven points ahead in the league standings over San Jose.

The Caps are now 7-2 without Alex this season; Not many teams can keep up the winning without their best player.

The funny thing is that in many of the games without Ovie, the team seems more focused and I think has played a more complete game.

Y'know, I've theorized there is an effect on a team when they lose a significant player. Notice how teams seem to play better after their starting goaltender has been pulled?

It's like they played fast and loose with the starter in net, but once he gets the hook, and the back-up ccomes in, they usually tighten up. It's not that the coach hasn't been screaming at them to tighten up for the previous four goals, but something clicks in their minds that says "hey, we need to be more careful. This guy isn't good as our starter."

I think the other team also lays off a little when the back-up comes in figuring they've just benched the best goal-tender, "this new guy should be easy." They don't focus as much on the quality of the shots, as much as just taking the shot.

Used to happen with Kolzig and Johnson all the time.

I think with Alex it was two-fold. The Caps went out knowing they all needed to step up their game, and Florida came in thinking that without Alex in the Caps' line-up, they could focus more on being aggressive and let Vokoun handle the workload.

Now granted, Florida is a pretty weak team, and the Caps should have won it with or without Ovie, so it doesn't go a long way to proving my theory, but watch it with other teams, and in some cases other sports.

Basketball is the one that seems to translate most directly, but you see it in football too sometimes.

“If you grow up in metro Washington, you grow up a diehard Redskins fan. But if you hate your parents, you grow up a Cowboys fan.”-Jim Lachey